Stephen Hill, a nationally known speaker on addiction and Mental Health Issues visited the High School on March 16th. Stephen gave an all-school assembly for all of our students 9-12 and then held "breakout sessions" in all of our PE classes and lunch periods where he was able to meet with students in small groups. The response was overwhelmingly positive. Stephen had a very powerful message and talked about the importance of reaching out to others and asking for help and finding healthy ways to cope with life's stressors. Below is a snippet from his website (speaksobriety.com) about his presentation:
This program begins with an introduction video aimed at knocking down the stigma attached to the disease of addiction, educating the audience on the current drug epidemic, and setting the stage for a powerful, honest and heartfelt story. During interviews with Stephen’s family, it becomes clear he had a great childhood. “No one saw this coming.”
Stephen shows his audience, through his life experience, how addiction can unfold, the consequences of substance use, and how stigma contributed to his inability to recover. His storytelling technique allows each individual person to draw conclusions in their own meaningful way as it relates to their own life.
